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UK Health News
According to the Collins dictionary, 'reform' means 'improvement, or change for the better'. Perhaps only in public services could it have come to signify something like the reverse: a grim trial of strength in which the centre imposes a new set of untried methods, often free-market-oriented, on reluctant consumers and providers in an attempt to alleviate the worst effects of previous reforms, often making things worse and dearer. The GP contract, the full horror of which is still unfolding, is a good example.
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David is 11 and profoundly autistic, one of half a million Britons with a condition for which there is no cure. Christopher Stevens tells of his family's struggle to understand their son's inner world
Raw milk is packed with vitamins and it's kinder to the planet. So why is an unpasteurised pint seen as such a risk? Some time last year, small crowds began forming at farmers' markets (farmersmarkets.net) around certain stalls where bottles were being handed out. The crowds swelled and consumers formed underground appreciation societies to support 150 British producers. They made pilgrimages to farm shops and signed up for a product unavailable via any conventional retail establishment on either side of the Atlantic. But what is this subversive substance, banned in Scotland since 1983 and which comes with a health warning almost as apocalyptic as the script on cigarette packets? Is it moonshine or liquid crack?
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As the face of Portsmouth's anti-smoking campaign last week, I would be a hypocrite if I didn't confess my own 15-year 20-a-day habit. As ludicrous as it now seems, I spent most of my career puffing away on fags: after training, before matches and even on the team coach. It makes me feel ill just thinking about it.
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As the Clintons play the race card against Barack Obama, the young senator from Illinois has many outraged supporters rallying to his cause, but not Britain's most prominent opponent of racism. Trevor Phillips is wary for good reasons. He suspects Obama is 'helping to postpone the arrival of a post-racial America' by offering white Americans a deal: vote for me and I'll stop you feeling guilty by keeping quiet about racism.
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I'm so tired I'm falling asleep at work - The Observer 16th March 2008
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I'm so tired I'm falling asleep at work - The Observer 16th March 2008
When I sit still I fall asleep, which is embarrassing, especially during meetings at work. I only drink alcohol at weekends and have eight hours' sleep a night. What can I do?
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60,000 doctors to be trained to spot patients' alcohol problems - The Guardian 15th March 2008
Some 60,000 doctors will be specially trained to detect patients with an alcohol problem, the Department of Health said yesterday. Dawn Primarolo, the public health minister, said she would instruct all medical schools in England to make the identification and treatment of alcohol misuse part of the compulsory curriculum for undergraduate doctors. Within 10 years, that would produce 60,000 clinicians with the skills needed to tackle an epidemic of persistent binge drinking.
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Food and drink companies should be banned from marketing unhealthy snacks and drinks to young children via new media such as social networking sites and text messaging, a coalition of international consumer groups and health bodies recommends today. The group is urging governments to adopt a code that they say would curb the rising obesity rates among children. The code would restrict junk food marketing, including outlawing the use of cartoon characters, celebrity tie-ins, free gifts and competitions aimed at younger audiences.
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David Cameron will today try to define the Conservatives as the most family-friendly political party when he unveils plans to provide intensive support for new parents and boost health visitor numbers by 2,700 by the end of his first Tory government. The Conservative leader will use his closing speech at the party's two-day spring conference in Gateshead to woo voters by promising to do "all we can to support families and parents".
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David Cameron puts the family at heart of Conservative ideas - The Sunday Telegraph 16th March 2008
Cameron vows more health visitors - BBC Health News 15th March 2008
Doctor, doctor - The Guardian 15th March 2008
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David Cameron puts the family at heart of Conservative ideas - The Sunday Telegraph 16th March 2008
Cameron vows more health visitors - BBC Health News 15th March 2008
Doctor, doctor - The Guardian 15th March 2008
My sister is in hospital with an MRSA infection and is being barrier nursed. Can I visit her? Will procedures be in place so visitors won't be infected? By all means write to her, but don't complicate things for her and for the hospital by trying to visit. A short period of isolation to ensure that the infection is cured and to prevent others from carrying it is a small concession to make. Your sister will surely understand.
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Radical government plans to rid the NHS of "problem" GPs could pave the way for a wholesale privatisation, senior doctors warned yesterday. Health Department proposals to force "underperforming" GPs into short-term contracts were criticised last night by angry doctors' leaders. They fear it will make it easier for local primary care trusts (PCTs) to sack doctors and bring in private companies to run surgeries. They claim uncertainty caused by such a proposal might deter doctors from investing in patient services and could damage GPs' relationships with patients.
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Doctors condemn super-clinic push - BBC Health News 14th March 2008
Huge rise in number of home births - The Independent on Sunday 16th March 2008
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Doctors condemn super-clinic push - BBC Health News 14th March 2008
Huge rise in number of home births - The Independent on Sunday 16th March 2008
A revolution is under way in how women give birth, and it is surgery, drug and even hospital-free. Inspired by celebrities such as Charlotte Church, Davina McCall, Thandie Newton and Maggie Gyllenhaal, record numbers of mums-to-be are having their babies at home. More pregnant women are braving the pain and forgoing elective Caesarean sections in certain parts of the country because local midwives are teaching them that birth is a natural, not a medical, procedure in the vast majority of cases. Many women are also increasingly worried about hospital infection rates.
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Royal college warns abortions can lead to mental illness - The Sunday Times 16th March 2008
Women may be at risk of mental health breakdowns if they have abortions, a medical royal college has warned. The Royal College of Psychiatrists says women should not be allowed to have an abortion until they are counselled on the possible risk to their mental health. This overturns the consensus that has stood for decades that the risk to mental health of continuing with an unwanted pregnancy outweighs the risks of living with the possible regrets of having an abortion.
The government’s new fertility bill is under fire on religious, moral and even scientific grounds When Liz Shipley was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) it came as little surprise. The 36-year-old from Newcastle had lost her mother to the same condition when she was just three years old. Several other members of her family, including her sister and uncle, had died or were suffering from the muscle-wasting disease.
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Embryo research Bill could block life-saving stem-cell treatments - The Times 15th March 2008
Measures to end Britain's sick note culture that will see doctors, social services and councillors brought in to get long-term absentees back to work will be unveiled in a Government-backed review next week. The aim is to prevent people suffering with minor conditions from joining the long-term sick and draining the public purse by claiming benefits. Under the plans, GPs signing someone off work sick would monitor and report patients' problems with debt, stress and childcare.
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The devoted father of Britain's 13-year-old diving prodigy reveals the profoundly moving story of his other battle... The surface of the swimming pool was as still as glass. Ten metres above, my 13-year-old son Tom balanced on the edge of the topmost diving board. He was about to make his final dive of the Olympic qualifying competition in Beijing. So far, Tom had given me a bit of a scare. Even though he is only a boy competing against men twice his age, I expected him to qualify. So did his coach. But he was in 11th place.
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Honey has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians and Greeks treated sores with it and soldiers in the Second World War wrapped bandages in it to heal their wounds. Today, honey can be found in wound dressings, creams, lozenges, tablets and in a jar.
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Louise Banks was dismissed as a lazy child by her PE teachers when she fainted during sports day. Later, doctors told her she had epilepsy and she nearly died during the birth of her son Ben
because her heart fluttered erratically.
because her heart fluttered erratically.
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Sinus bug antibiotics 'are overprescribed and do not work' - Daily Mail 14th March 2008
Doctors should cut down on prescribing antibiotics for common sinus infections because they are not effective, researchers said today. Sinusitis is a bacterial infection, which creates small air pockets inside the cheekbones and forehead, causing a high temperature, pain and tenderness in the face and forehead, and a blocked or runny nose.
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Highly-educated parents were more prone to stop their children having the measles, mumps and rubella jab during the scare over the vaccine, research shows. A report into attitudes towards the joint MMR injection found a lower take-up rate among parents who had gone on to further education. They were also less likely to to have their children immunised against other diseases following the controversy surrounding MMR.
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Children in Wales will be given free toothbrushes on the NHS - while English parents still have to pay. The scheme, which also provides toothpaste for three to five-year-olds, is the latest in a list of "health apartheid" benefits denied to the population in England. Welsh people already get free prescriptions and free hospital car parking, while dental costs have been frozen for a second year.
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An anti-smoking group in Liverpool is calling for all movies with smoking scenes to be given an 18 certificate. SmokeFree Liverpool told BBC's Radio 5 Live it wanted to see the change but the film classification board said the idea was "heavy-handed". The push - backed by the city council - comes amid research showing young people pick up the bad habit from watching films containing smoking.
A year ago actor David Harewood got a call that was to change not only his life but that of a complete stranger. He was told his bone marrow could be a match for a desperately ill person. Six months on, David - who has starred in Blood Diamond, Babyfather, Fat Friends and The Vice - has heard the unknown recipient is doing well.
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When the Neighbours character Susan Kinski started to suffer mysterious symptoms, doctors in the soap were baffled. She had had unusual symptoms for months, even blacking out behind the wheel of a car and being involved in a hit and run. It was only when Susan was given an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan that she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).
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Many women are going into labour vastly underestimating how painful it can be and overly optimistic that they will be able to manage without drugs, a study suggests. How has this happened? Researchers at the University of Newcastle who looked at evidence from the UK and beyond found significant discrepancies between women's expectations of labour and their actual experience.
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The number of doctors and nurses in the NHS has increased in the past year, but the number of support staff has fallen, official figures reveal. The number of professionally qualified clinical staff, such as consultants and midwives, has increased by 6,600 since 2006, the NHS Information Centre said.
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Kidney hope for 'down under' twin - BBC Health News 14th March 2008
A Bristol pensioner is on standby to fly to Australia to donate a kidney to save her twin sister's life. Daphne Dearing, 62, only discovered last week she was an exact match for Susan Daunton, who has been ill for more than a decade. Mrs Daunton, who emigrated in 1980, now has polycystic kidney disease.
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New Section
International Health News
The young man lies back on the hospital trolley and waits patiently as his head is secured in place with a vice. Marian Dolishny’s nervous smile and worried, flicking eyes, betray the certain knowledge that what he is about to undergo will be anything but pleasant. But he also knows that time is short: if the enormous tumour inside his head is not removed, it will soon kill him.
Most diabetes sufferers could be cured within four years if a revolutionary treatment involving the BCG vaccine works, scientists said yesterday. A human clinical trial with hopes of finding a cure for type 1 diabetes is to start at a leading American research hospital using BCG, universally given for many years in Britain to prevent tuberculosis.
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Parkinson's drug may also attack cancer by starving tumours of oxygen - Daily Mail 14th March 2008
A drug normally used to treat Parkinson's may also be effective against cancer, scientists have found. Synthetic dopamine is an artificial version of a chemical that allows messages to pass between motor neurons in the brain. In Parkinson's patients, loss of the chemical neurotransmitter leads to typical symptoms of muscle rigidity and shaking. Treatment with synthetic dopamine can help overcome the deficiency.
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Scientists have discovered a key part of the chemistry which makes cancer cells so dangerous. They believe it could now be possible to tamper with the mechanism - and stop tumour growth in its tracks. Harvard Medical School identified an enzyme which enables cancer cells to consume the huge quantities of glucose they need to fuel uncontrolled growth.
A global campaign aimed at reducing the marketing of unhealthy food to children has been launched. More than 50 consumer groups are backing a voluntary code of practice which includes tight restrictions on television and internet advertising.
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New Section
Cheshire and Merseyside Health News
ELDERLY people in Liverpool are harming their health by binge drinking, health chiefs have warned. Alcohol experts today said drink problems in the city’s over 65’s are on the increase with a significant rise in the number admitted to hospital with alcohol-related illnesses. While older people’s drinking has not received the same attention as their younger counterparts, health bosses at Liverpool PCT are so concerned at the growing trend that they are now launching a campaign to stop the problem.
IAN FISHER’S drug habit landed him in prison and nearly cost him his life. The reformed addict from Moreton, Wirral, turned his life around and now teaches teenagers about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. His efforts have landed him a nomination for the Learning and Skills Council Young Achiever award.
A COUNSELLING organisation is struggling to bid for support – because a council’s email system blocks the word “sexual”. Wirral’s Rape and Sexual Abuse centre (RASA) emails automatically bounce back from Liverpool council. Despite months of protests about the web “profanity” filter, service co-ordinator Jo Wood has been told she must ring the council every time she clicks “send”.
THE MOTHER of a newborn baby dumped in a binbag in woodlands is still being urged to come forward 10 years to the day the body was found. The boy, named Callum by police officers, was found by a man walking his dog in Warrington, on Saturday, March 14, 1998. He had lived for a matter of hours after birth, before being asphyxiated.
BUILDING work on a new unit which will transform the lives of patients with kidney disease is under way in Southport. The long-awaited Southport NHS Dialysis Unit is expected to be fully operational early next year. It will house 12 dialysis stations and provide services for up to 60 patients, currently travelling many miles for dialysis elsewhere in the region.
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SOUTHPORT’S town centre ambulance station is to close - with emergency vehicles being relocated as far as Formby. North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) has confirmed the Court Road station will cease to exist by November. The NWAS are studying alternative relocation options despite concern from town centre residents who fear increased waiting times.
Isaac Hughes is a contended, gurgling little boy, playing in the garden with his mum. But the happiness he feels inside will never show on his face – because he cannot smile. AN incredibly rare syndrome, which affects only 200 people in the UK, means Isaac Hughes will never smile, blink or show facial expression.
CHESTER-born striker Michael Owen turned out to open the new teenagers’ unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. The £212,000 unit, which saw its first patients last autumn, is the latest project to be undertaken by the Chester Childbirth Appeal.
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Call to restrict smoking scenes - BBC Health News 16th March 2008
An anti-smoking group in Liverpool is calling for all movies with smoking scenes to be given an 18 certificate. SmokeFree Liverpool told BBC's Radio 5 Live it wanted to see the change but the film classification board said the idea was "heavy-handed". The push - backed by the city council - comes amid research showing young people pick up the bad habit from watching films containing smoking.
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Cumbria and Lancashire Health News
AN £80 million bid is now getting underway to secure funding to develop cottage hospitals across Cumbria. Health bosses have committed to retaining inpatient beds at all nine of the hospitals in north and west Cumbria, between 140 and 170 in total. Similar 20-bed facilities will also be developed at both the Cumberland Infirmary and West Cumberland Hospital.
A SENIOR county councillor has voiced concerns regarding the lack of public consultation over bed losses at the Cumberland Infirmary. But he has reassured the public that no changes will be allowed to go ahead until health chiefs have proved the plan is both viable and safe.
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Infirmary row over plans to cut beds - Carlisle News & Star 14th March 2008
Shocking inequality - Carlisle News & Star 15th March 2008
The annual report on the state of Cumbria’s health makes chilling reading. Cumbria’s Director of Public Health, Professor John Ashton, warns that if we continue boozing and bingeing our way into obesity, our life expectancy rates will plummet as chronic alcohol and weight-related illnesses rise.
A LONG history of money worries within the local NHS will be eradicated permanently as a result of the ongoing shake-up, say health bosses. Already the PCT has managed to persuade the Government to wipe out its historic debts on the back of the Closer to Home proposals. Now it is working to tackle its finances for the long term, ensuring that the books balance year-on-year.
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TELEVISION’S Street Doctors will be hitting Cockermouth next week. GPs from the BBC One show will give free consultations to people worried about health problems.
PARAMEDICS will be given responsibility to determine whether a patient would be best treated in Carlisle or Whitehaven as part of a shake-up of emergency care. It was feared that, under the new plans, the majority of cases from the west would be transferred to the Cumberland Infirmary for surgery, prompting safety concerns. But health bosses have confirmed the decision will be left entirely to emergency crews, who will assess each patient’s needs.
ONE of Cumbria’s coroners is to contact drug authorities because he fears people are killing themselves after taking antidepressants. Ian Smith is to write to the Committee on the Safety of Medicines – an independent advisory body – following the inquest into the death of Nigel Woodburn.
AS regional secretary for the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), I would like to comment on Alistair Darling’s first Budget. In my view, we are now looking at a £6.50 pint, just in time for the Olympics. This will escalate pub closures, which are already at record levels. And further depress beer sales which have sunk by 1 million pints a day over the last 12 months alone.
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PLANS to build a new acute hospital in west Cumbria took a significant step forward yesterday when health bosses gave it official backing. The approval means they can now press ahead with detailed proposals for the facility – to replace the crumbling West Cumberland Hospital. This includes securing capital funding for the project and determining exactly where the new hospital will be built.
TWO East Lancashire mums are appearing in a county-wide campaign to promote breastfeeding. Michelle Bromley, 23, of Colne, and Chantelle Baldwin, 20, of Blackburn, were given a makeover and posed as a pop star and a supermodel respectively for the Be a Star campaign to get more young mums to ditch the bottle. Their images will be featured on posters and billboards throughout Lancashire's shopping centres, bus shelters and buses, as well as appearing in promotional material for the campaign.
TEACHERS went back to school to learn how best to teach their youngsters about healthy eating. Smithills School put on a two-day food training course for primary school teachers from across the borough. The course was led by food technology teachers Sally Smith and Andrew Whittle, who themselves had attended a seminar on how to train their peers.
HRH Prince Edward opens the £7.5 Million Health Centre the new Accrington Pals Primary Health Care Centre in Accrington. He arrives
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Lack of Blue Light A & E Puts Lives at Risk - Lancashire Telegraph 14th March 2008
I hope Pendle Borough Council's unanimous Motion calling for the return of the full "Blue Light" A & E Facilities at Burnley General Hospital is successful. Burnley Borough Council have passed a similar Motion. Pendle MP, Gordon Prentice, has urged the 2 Councils to meet with East Lancashire Primary Care Trust, the NHS Commissioning Body, to review the decision to downgrade this Service. This would, hopefully, put pressure on the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust to reinstate the full A & E Service.
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Greater Manchester Health News
A PATIENTS' watchdog has accused health bosses of failing to carry out a proper consultation when they decided to axe a unit for dementia sufferers. The Patient and Public Involvement Forum has launched a stinging attack on the way the Sycamores Day Hospital is being closed. The unit, based at Royal Oldham Hospital, is due to shut later this year.
A SCHOOLGIRL weighing just 2½st will jet to America to see top doctors after an appeal to help her raised £5,000 in one week. British doctors are baffled as to why 4ft Ellie Wiseman can't gain weight despite her SIX meals a day.
PATIENTS in nine out of 10 Greater Manchester districts are waiting longer for hospital treatment now than when Labour came to power 10 years ago. The new figures obtained by the M.E.N. show the average wait for treatment ranged from 42 days in Bolton and 52 in Tameside now compared to 21 in Central Manchester and 42 in North Manchester in 1997.
ERIC Mee is waiting patiently for a call that will change his life. And he hopes the phone will soon ring thanks to a push to raise awareness of a disease affecting him and hundreds of others across the north west. Eric, 74, from Northenden, is one of 491 people in the region with chronic kidney disease.
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A COMPUTER system, which is being piloted in Bolton, could save the NHS more than £1 billion by 2014. The National Programme for IT, which includes the Summary Care Record, a scheme where patient records are stored online and can be accessed by health professionals across the country, is saving the money because it has increased efficiency.
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CHRONIC Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is long-term tiredness (fatigue) that does not go away with sleep, or rest, and affects everyday life. CFS is also known as ME (myalgic encephalomyelitis). ME is a commonly used term, although it can be thought to be too specific to cover all the symptoms. What are the symptoms?
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Work begins on new cancer centre - Altrincham Messenger 14th March 2008
WORK has begun on a new Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital. It will be a source of practical advice information and support for people with cancer and their sufferers.
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Full links to the articles detailed can be found at www(dot) fade the blog 2 (dot)blogspot (dot)com, This has been a Podcast of Another 15 Minutes ... Health News from the Fade Library.
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